Pick Up
by Dark Ice Dragon
Summary: Tao brought out his pocket computer and flicked it open. He peered at it for a second and then looked up at Frankenstein. "There's movement in the recovery room."
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**: Tao brought out his pocket computer and flicked it open. He peered at it for a second and then looked up at Frankenstein. "There's movement in the recovery room."

Again, assuming the perfect ending of season 6.

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><p><strong>Pick Up<br>**

By Dark Ice Dragon

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><p>Frankenstein closed his eyes, breathing in. Master was in his arms, his clothes torn and bloody after the battle; his blood was dripping steadily onto the floor, seeping past the makeshift bandages. But it was over for now, at least.<p>

"Put Muzaka into the recovery room," Frankenstein said over his shoulder as he headed for Master's bedroom.

"Got it, Boss."

Everyone had gotten out alive – scathed, but alive. How long would it be until their luck ran out?

xOx

"It's been quiet these last couple days, huh?" Tao murmured, gazing into the depths of his tea.

Frankenstein smiled wanly at him. "Everyone has been resting, and the children haven't visited during that time either." They thought the household had collectively caught the flu again.

"Yeah, I know but-" Tao blinked and then straightened. He started digging into his pocket, handing Takeo his mug, who took it without question.

Tao brought out his pocket computer and flicked it open. He peered at it for a second and then looked up at him. "There's movement in the recovery room."

Frankenstein nodded, standing up. "I will be back shortly."

"Should we heat something up?" Tao asked, already on the verge of getting to his feet.

It would have been several days since Muzaka had last eaten, possibly even more. "Yes, it would be most appreciated. He probably won't be eating much," he added, "but it would be best to heat something for yourselves as well."

"Will do! Come on, you two," Tao said, hopping to his feet, "let's do it!"

Frankenstein left, hearing them discuss what they should bring out.

Muzaka was sitting on the edge of the bed when Frankenstein entered the recovery room. Only the scars he originally had were there, his recent injuries having not left a mark on his skin.

Muzaka tilted his head at him, an eyebrow cocked. "Hn, thought I smelled you."

"You would," Frankenstein said wryly, "seeing as this is my house."

"And Raizel?"

"…Still recovering," Frankenstein said after a pause. While Muzaka had shown he still had a werewolf's regeneration (faster than Frankenstein had expected, in fact), Master's own wounds were healing sluggishly in comparison.

Muzaka gave him a curt nod, his hands clenching the edge of the bed for a second. With a harsh sigh, he stood up, rolling his shoulders. "You got something to eat?"

"We do, but first-" Frankenstein nodded to the sets of clothes laid out on the other bed. "-it would be best if you changed into some clothes."

"Eh, fine."

xOx

Frankenstein didn't have to wait long outside and when Muzaka emerged, he had chosen a plain white shirt and light brown trousers. The shirt wasn't tucked in, nor was it buttoned up, swinging freely from his shoulders.

"_Everyone_ wears these shoes?" Muzaka grumbled, eyeing Frankenstein's slippers. "They'll come off if I lift my foot wrong." He shook his foot, testing it.

"They're only meant to be worn indoors – it's to make sure dirt isn't brought into the house."

Muzaka snorted, his lips twisting up into a small smirk. "To keep the house clean. Should have known."

Muzaka _had_ seemed amused by how much he'd tried to keep Master's house as clean as possible when they'd first met, but habits were hard to break after he'd worked in a laboratory for several years.

"The kitchen is this way," Frankenstein said as he began walking. Muzaka followed him without a word, though Frankenstein could hear him breathing in deeply every once in a while.

M-21, Takeo and Tao peered at them when they entered the living room and Frankenstein saw Tao elbow M-21 as soon as he clapped eyes on Muzaka. M-21 glowered at Tao in response.

"Gentlemen, you know Muzaka; Muzaka, this is M-21, Takeo, and Tao." They nodded as they were introduced, and Tao grinned, waving.

"Yo, it's good to see you're up!"

Muzaka didn't answer straight away, which was odd, and Frankenstein looked at him. He was frowning in puzzlement at Tao before he turned to Frankenstein, an eyebrow raised. "What did he say?"

A glance at the others showed a mixture of concentration, confusion, or surprise.

"Ah…" Of course. Muzaka didn't know a word of Korean.

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><p>I thought this would be 100 words at the very most again, pfft.<p>

Shirtlessness is a werewolf trait, that's all I'm saying.

Frankenstein _will_ have to tell Muzaka about walking around 'half-naked' outside though. XDD

There will be a part 2 to this! For once, haha.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary**: They should have thought this over first…

I'll be posting all the perfect season 6 ending Muzaka fics under Pick Up, so it won't get confused with 'more canon' Muzaka fics when we get more information. XD

Welcome to the Household can be all by itself, haha.

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><p><strong>Pick Up<br>**

By Dark Ice Dragon

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><p>"Are you sure?" Frankenstein asked Karias, who nodded.<p>

"I feel as though I haven't done as much as I could have done and Lord will be disappointed at my terrible representation of nobles."

He wasn't the _only_ noble in the house, M-21 thought, and he wasn't the only noble specifically ordered to come help them but M-21 kept quiet – Karias actually _could_ help in this situation, which was better than what he could do.

Frankenstein hummed and then said something to Muzaka. It was more guttural that most languages M-21 had heard, and Frankenstein was gesturing more as well. Muzaka snorted but twisted his lip up, nodding. M-21 avoided Tao's foot with practiced ease, not looking at the other man because he would have the same gleeful expression on his face he'd had for the last twenty minutes.

Tao wondering if his heart had belonged to someone related to Muzaka was bad enough, but now they had the time and weren't being attacked on all sides, the similarities between parts of their personalities was getting…obvious.

And that was before the fact that Muzaka was basically walking around without a shirt on. Tao wouldn't let _that_ go for a while, M-21 knew. Why hadn't Frankenstein said anything to him? Frankenstein wasn't releasing his aura in warning either, so did Frankenstein really not mind or was he still that tired?

Karias said something to Muzaka and then raised his hand with a flourish, pointing his fingertips at him. M-21 felt the weight of power on his shoulders for a brief second before it was gone.

It didn't look like anything happened, and even Muzaka seemed to think so, studying the rest of them.

"So did it work or not?" Muzaka asked, frowning.

Tao nodded. "Heh, yep!"

"Hn, sweet."

'Sweet'? That sounded pretty informal for a previous werewolf Lord, but from what he'd heard about the previous _noble_ Lord…

Except Frankenstein was peering at Muzaka, his expression bemused. "…Muzaka?"

"S'up?"

Frankenstein twitched.

Oh, shit, right – Karias had picked up Korean from the children at the school. It had taken a bit of convincing (or maybe Karias picking up the language from their heads) for him to stop using that.

Tao's shoulders started shaking, snickers escaping from his mouth.

Karias looked at their different reactions. "What's wrong?"

"I'll go get Rajak," Frankenstein said, his jaw slightly clenched as he turned on his heel and left the living room.

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><p>Sldkfad That was as close to super casual speechtext speech as I was willing to go. (And I couldn't really think of anything that fit anyway? Orz; )


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary**: Muzaka does a little poking around the house.

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><p><strong>Pick Up<br>**

By Dark Ice Dragon

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><p>Muzaka eyed the wall. He knew it led somewhere – he'd seen the others walk through it, but he didn't know what they did to get it to open since there wasn't a door. He placed his hand on the wall, leaning in to see if there was anything-<p>

_Beep_.

He stepped back, hearing a faint '_hiss_' as part of the wall slid sideways to reveal a brightly-lit, white staircase. Hn. So he apparently had to touch the wall to open it; it wasn't the weirdest thing he'd seen so far.

Even with his slippers, the sound of his footsteps were louder here, amplified. It wasn't enough to cover the hum of machines though. There wasn't anything covering the sharp tang of something else either. The house smelled strange, and now it looked like he'd found the source.

It wasn't something he could identify though, a mixture of things overlapping each other.

The scents of the people of the house were stronger there as well, with Frankenstein's being the easiest to pick out.

Once Muzaka reached the bottom, he looked around. The place was wider than the house, like Raizel's, actually, and he snorted, taking the first left, following the scents.

But why was the place hidden? Muzaka inhaled again and realised that the unmodified human scents were missing. Huh.

The scents led him to a set of double doors that slid back too. Inside was an even bigger room that looked like it could fit the entire house in it.

He walked in, glancing at all the machinery, his hands shoved in his pockets. There seemed to be lights everywhere – buttons, screens and on top of the machines as well.

Frankenstein was near one wall, his back turned to him, wearing a white coat.

There was something about all this, something that seemed almost familiar but he'd never seen Frankenstein wear that – it wasn't just that though, and he glanced around. The place was cleaner than even upstairs, everything gleaming and - that was it.

"Huh," he said, his eyebrows raised, and he saw Frankenstein pause, and then turn around, "I thought Raizel told you to quit."

The entire place was a laboratory, like where he'd been kept, the few brief times he'd gained enough consciousness to see where he was. This laboratory was different from what he'd heard about though, but it had been a long time since then as well.

"He had," Frankenstein said, and his white gloves were stained with yellow at the tips, "but the circumstances have changed."

"No kidding." But so long as Raizel knew, he didn't care.

Frankenstein was studying him now, his head at a tilt.

"What?"

"Hmm… I wonder…" Frankenstein said softly, peeling off his gloves and he dropped them inside a container as he walked past it.

"Yes, you will be perfect," Frankenstein said, nodding. He then smiled at him. "I require your assistance with something."

"Yeah?" Muzaka said, going over to where Frankenstein was, looking for what Frankenstein wanted help with. All he could see were more machines though. He couldn't help with those. "What with?"

"I am trying out a new recipe for a dessert – if you could eat a few and tell me what you think…?" Behind Frankenstein, the machine was splitting into two to reveal three rows of pink triangular…things with white flowers on top. He could smell chocolate too.

Hn. "Yeah, I can do that."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary**: Takeo could feel someone's gaze on him.

Vague spoilers for 327.

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><p><strong>Pick Up<br>**

By Dark Ice Dragon

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><p>Takeo could feel someone's gaze on him, the back of his neck prickling. He looked over his shoulder, expecting to meet Tao's wide grin, but he saw Muzaka's pensive stare instead.<p>

Who wasn't staring at him so much as his hair.

"Muzaka…?" Takeo said softly. There were times when Muzaka seemed lost in his own thoughts, and the household were still figuring out the balance between drawing him away from them and letting him dwell. Letting him mourn.

Muzaka focused on him, his lips pursed, his shoulders hunching. "Do you normally keep your hair like that?"

'Like that'? Takeo ran a hand through his hair, making sure it was how he thought it was and Tao hadn't added something without him noticing again.

It seemed the same as usual, unbound and nothing else attached.

"Yes?" he said. "Inside the house – outside, I tie it up."

"How do you tie it up?" It was more a command than a question. Muzaka's attention was back on his hair.

"Usually like this." Takeo pulled his hair back, holding it where the hair tie normally lay.

"Hn." Muzaka continued to stare and Takeo waited to see if he would ask anything else.

"Ever tied it a different way?"

"Ah?" That wasn't what he'd been expecting, not sure why Muzaka was so interested. "Not really." He'd experimented a few times, but the ponytail was quick and simple so he kept falling back on that.

Muzaka's gaze didn't waver.

"Do…you want to…?" Takeo offered, gesturing to his own head. He didn't know Muzaka that well, but Muzaka also had long hair, so he probably knew other tricks on how to keep it away from his face. He also trusted Muzaka to not add anything to his hair like Tao would.

"…Yeah, I would." Muzaka nodded, his expression relaxing.

"All right." Takeo glanced around the living room, and then walked over to the table, seating himself at the head to give Muzaka easier access.

He heard Muzaka follow him, and after a pause, Muzaka's hands were going through his hair.

Muzaka's touch was gentle for his blunt attitude, and it wasn't hesitant either.

He knew what he was doing, and had done it before. (Maybe with-?)

A snort, and Takeo nearly turned his head. "Your hair's a mess." A tug at his hair, pulling at a knot.

Takeo smiled. "I haven't had the chance to look after it properly recently." He had been too distracted with everything else.

"Hmph."

Takeo wasn't sure how long Muzaka spent finger-combing his hair, but after a while, Muzaka seemed satisfied and started separating his hair into three parts.

Once he began putting them under and over each other, Takeo followed the pattern it was creating in his head.

A braid. It had to be a braid.

He'd tried doing that a few times, but it was just the time it took to go through all his hair that he didn't bother with it.

Takeo tensed when Muzaka started growling under his breath, not sure why he was pissed off, but it wasn't a snarl, Muzaka's hands were still steady. The growl was continuous, rising and falling like a song.

The werewolf language…?

The growling cut off when Muzaka reached the end of the braid, and, pretending not to notice, Takeo held out a hairtie he kept around his wrist. "Thank you."

Muzaka accepted it without a word, tying his hair up. Once he was done, Muzaka walked away.

Takeo turned around, unsure what else to say and saw _him_ standing near the doorway.

"Raizel." It was clipped, and Muzaka nodded at him – he got a dip of the head in return.

Takeo pulled the braid over his shoulder for something to do as he listened to Muzaka leave the living room. It was a little uneven in places, but other than that, Takeo couldn't see anything wrong with it.

He looked up when the door closed, _his_ face turned towards it. _He_ looked back at him, his expression as unreadable as ever.

"Muzaka had been singing a lullaby."

Oh… That explained it.

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><p>I KNOW THIS WON'T EVER BE CANON BUT I DON'T CARRRRREEE. THIS CHAPTER AUUUUUGH.<p>

Someone requested hair-focused chapter? I think it was Melon Go? …Wow, in February, haha…


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary**: M-21 walks into Muzaka having a conversation with the puppy.

In the novels, Rai adopts a puppy as well. X3

Again, was writing something else but this wanted to be first.

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><p><strong>Pick Up<br>**

By Dark Ice Dragon

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><p>"Look," M-21 heard as he went to the living room, "the others can say it tastes like the 'best thing ever' all they want, but that doesn't mean it's good for <em>you<em>." That was Muzaka talking, but who was he talking to…?

"I don't care; you're not supposed to eat it."

When M-21 entered the room, he could see Muzaka's hair spread over the arm rest. There was no-one else there.

A huff, followed by a whine.

Wait…

M-21 walked over and he saw the puppy lying on top of Muzaka's chest, his tail wagging as Muzaka stroked it.

"_Maybe_ in small doses, so long as you eat meat as well."

"You can-" fell out of M-21's mouth before he stopped himself.

"Talk with him?" Muzaka said, not looking up. "Yeah." He rubbed the top of the puppy's nose with the tip of a finger and only moved his finger more when the puppy grasped that finger in his teeth. The puppy growled, his tail wagging harder.

"Huh, you can't understand him?" Muzaka tilted his head to look at M-21.

"…No." The puppy had probably told Muzaka.

"Hn." Muzaka continued to study him. "Wanna learn?"

"Wh-" Was he offering to teach him just like that?

With a sigh, Muzaka lifted the puppy off his chest and sat up, setting the puppy on his lap. "Yeah. It's something werewolves are taught since canines understand us."

It…_had_ bothered M-21 that the puppy understood him but he couldn't. "But I'm not a werewolf."

"He understands you." Muzaka petted the puppy and the puppy barked, wriggling. "You've got werewolf blood." A shrug. "So do you wanna learn or not?"

"I…" M-21 looked between Muzaka and the puppy – Muzaka seemed neutral while the puppy barked again when M-21 looked at him, whining. Muzaka didn't translate, still petting. M-21 could guess what the puppy wanted though.

"Yeah, I do," M-21 said, sitting down at the head of the table.

Muzaka grinned and the pup yipped.

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><p>Yes, Muzaka and the puppy were talking about ramen. X3<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary**: M-21 asks for a spar with Muzaka.

And canon kicks my butt again, AHAHAHAH. I WAS WRITING THIS BEFORE 337 CAME OUT AND OH MY GOD. CANON, WHY. WHAT WAS THIS AMAZING CHAPTER, AUUUUUGH.

But yeah, I'd started writing this part before the 5th part, as well as 337, so there might be some weirdness that stuck after editing and I'm keeping the path I originally had. X3;

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><p><strong>Pick Up<br>**

By Dark Ice Dragon

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><p>Living in Frankenstein's house wasn't so bad. It was smaller than Raizel's, but after everything Muzaka had seen of the modern human world, it was at least quiet. He appreciated that.<p>

He was crouched on top of the balcony railing, overlooking the rest of the neighbourhood. There were people walking inside their houses and he could hear a few dogs barking in the distance. They weren't saying anything interesting, only having a repeated argument.

"Hey."

Muzaka turned his head towards the voice, recognising it. "Hey."

M-21 exhaled, not coming closer. When Muzaka looked over his shoulder, M-21 was hovering by the doorway, his gaze elsewhere.

A shake of the head and M-21 focused on him again. "Do you want to spar?"

Oh, so that's what it was. "Sure," Muzaka said, hopping off the balcony.

M-21 started a little, his eyebrows shooting up. "Really?"

"You thought I was going to say no?" Muzaka asked with a snort as he walked over. What was the point in asking then?

M-21 shrugged. "I didn't know what you were going to say."

"It's about fighting; my job is to teach the younger generation how to." Frankenstein was good, but he didn't know the ins and outs of how werewolves fought.

"I'm n…" M-21 sighed, his expression flickering. He seemed to have a problem with Muzaka calling him that.

"I know," Muzaka said with a wave of his hand. They'd been over that M-21 was a modified human already. "You're younger than me." And had werewolf blood. Those two things were all that mattered to him, really. And there was no-one else that he could pass this onto; who knew what the hell Maduke was teaching the younger werewolves.

M-21 studied him and then nodded. "All right."

"Where do you spar around here?" Muzaka asked as he walked further in doors. The thought of sparring in Frankenstein's lab made him wrinkle his nose in distaste. The lab was far too enclosed for his liking, too limiting.

"There's the lab…" M-21 started, "but Frankenstein has an island as well." He gestured in the direction of the sea.

"An island," Muzaka repeated. "Like Lukedonia?" Why was he not surprised Frankenstein had one?

"Not that big," M-21 said with a snort.

"Let's go, then." The earlier they started the better. 

xOx

It didn't take them long to reach Frankenstein's island, and a building stood out against the rest of the scenery in the distance. That wasn't what had Muzaka's attention though – the place was wrecked, sweeping slashes gouged the ground, disturbed soil and uprooted trees everywhere. Nature had started to take it back, grass and other plants starting to cover them, but the destruction was still easy to see. It must have happened a few weeks ago.

"There was a fight here?" Would it be that safe to spar here if it had been attacked before?

M-21 shook his head. "No, this was us sparring together."

As he said that, Muzaka picked out four parallel slashes grouped together.

"Hm, fine." Muzaka wandered away, giving them some space between them and then turned around to face M-21, a smirk on his face. "Show me what you got, cub."

M-21 hesitated for a second and then nodded, charging at him, transforming, the silver fur appearing in a flash.

Muzaka didn't transform, watching M-21's approach. When M-21 swung down, the ground exploded, flinging dirt and rocks skyward. Muzaka jumped around the way, waiting to see what M-21 would do next.

M-21 closed the distance between them, slashing at him. Another leap to safety and before he landed, Muzaka braced himself for M-21's attack, raising an arm to block.

They struggled against each other for a second and then Muzaka transformed. He saw M-21's eyes widen as he flashed his free arm out and rapped his knuckles on the crown of M-21's head.

"Wha-"

Muzaka jumped out the way before M-21 could regain his bearings. M-21 patted his head where Muzaka tapped him.

"You left yourself open, cub," Muzaka said, lips twitching at the sight.

M-21 frowned for a second and then nodded.

The second time they clashed, M-21 brought both arms into play. The cub had power for his apparent age, Muzaka had to give him that.

He shoved M-21, forcing him to stumble back a step. Muzaka lashed out, tapping M-21 in the torso – his wrist was caught as he pulled away, M-21 baring his teeth at him. Heh, fast too.

"I thought we were going to spar," M-21 said through gritted teeth.

Muzaka raised both eyebrows. "We are." What did M-21 think sparring was?

"You're holding back."

"Of course I am," Muzaka said with a snort. "I'd kill you if I didn't and you wouldn't learn anything _that_ way."

M-21 opened and closed his mouth, still glaring at him.

"Look," Muzaka said, stepping back and relaxing – they weren't going to spar until he'd given M-21 a satisfactory answer. M-21 stiffly let go, watching him. "Me beating the crap out of you won't help. You'll learn to dodge, sure, but what's the point if you leave yourself open when you're countering?"

The expression on M-21's face started to soften.

M-21 was stronger than the two other modified humans, Seira would give him trouble if she brought her soul weapon out, but she would be fair. _Frankenstein_ on the other hand… That to be where M-21 learned this from. "Frankenstein's used to fighting beings more powerful than him and his fighting style shows that." He pointed at M-21. "Your strength's in your claws and you use them differently from how Frankenstein uses his Dark Spear."

M-21 glaced down at his hands. "I know how to-" M-21 pursed his lips, his expression blanking off.

Muzaka huffed. Frankenstein had mentioned the cub's self-worth problems. "I know you do, but you've still got stuff you can improve on. If you didn't think that, you wouldn't have come to me."

A slow nod, and M-21 squared his shoulders, looking ready to fight again.

They'd spent a lot of time talking though, and Muzaka wasn't sure how much M-21 had left. "Can you transform to your next form?"

M-21's eyes widened.

Huh. "No?" He'd seen him do it in the last fight.

M-21's expression twisted, going bitter. "I lose control."

Oh, so that was what the problem was. "It'll be fine," he said, waving a hand. "There's no-one to hurt here and I can take you out." M-21 would tire himself out before reaching the city anyway. "That's why you wanted to spar with me, right?"

Some more hesitation and then another slow nod.

"So get going, cub," Muzaka said, giving him space.

He got a long suffering sigh for that. "You're not going to stop calling me that, are you?"

"Heh, nope. Got a problem with that?"

"No," M-21 said, exhaling. "Just another nickname on the list."

Muzaka had a feeling most of them came from Tao.

M-21 screwed his eyes shut, fisting his hands as best as he could.

Muzaka raised an arm to protect his eyes from the explosion of power from M-21, feeling some of the debris scratch his skin.

When Muzaka lowered it, M-21's shirt was gone, scraps of it fluttering in the wind. Long tufts of fur ran up his arms. His hair had spiked up, revealing the parallel stripes on his cheeks, M-21's slitted eyes.

M-21 didn't move, glancing around himself before spotting Muzaka. Even then, M-21 didn't jump to attack him. Huh. Interesting.

"Oi, cub." Muzaka bared his teeth, raising a hand as if to strike.

M-21's only reaction was to tense, but still not move.

This was what M-21 considered 'lose control', or had he regained it?

Well, whatever. Muzaka growled, charging at him. If M-21 didn't react to _that_…

M-21 did, zipping at him. He was faster than before, far faster than what transforming could account for; M-21 was holding himself back.

They clashed against each other, Muzaka grunting as M-21's aura thrashed against his. He was also stronger than Muzaka expected. Muzaka transformed further as well, just in case, using the boost to shove M-21 back.

As soon as he touched the ground, M-21 flung himself back at Muzaka, snarling.

When Muzaka flung him away a second time, M-21 landed fine, but only managed one step before dropping to his knees, his transformation receding.

Hn. Couldn't hold that form for long, but that was to be expected if M-21 had only just got it. M-21 shouldn't have been able to _get_ that form at his apparent age anyway. Most werewolves took a couple more centuries before maturing enough to even get their claws, let alone that form.

"Fuck!" M-21 panted, his hands curled into fists.

Muzaka raised his eyebrows, letting go of his own transformation. What was he angry about?

"Like I said," M-21 said through gritted teeth as he got back to his feet, "I don't have any control."

"Huh," Muzaka said, resting a hand on a hip. "Looked like you had plenty of control to me."

M-21 paused, staring at him before shaking his head, his lips pursed. "I don't remember anything that happened."

"Oh, is that what you were meaning?"

"Yeah," M-21 said with a clenched jaw.

Muzaka reached over and ruffled M-21's hair.

M-21 blinked, stilling under his touch.

"It'll pass," Muzaka said, trying not to make it obvious he'd seen M-21's wide eyes. Had no-one touched him like that before? …Well, the only person who probably would was Tao in that house. He should do something about that. "You've got good control over yourself already – I had to goad you into attacking me first."

"But-!" M-21 sighed, his shoulders slumping. "We should get back," M-21 murmured, turning to the direction of Frankenstein's house. "Dinner should be nearly ready by now."

Muzaka nodded – M-21 wouldn't be able to go on anyway. And once they were back, he would be having a few conversations with Frankenstein and Tao.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary**: M-21's a little tired after the spar.

Maybe I should have wrote this at the end of the 6th part, whoops.

Yet another 'I thought this wasn't even going to be 50 words at most'.

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><p><strong>Pick Up<br>**

By Dark Ice Dragon

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><p>M-21 looked exhausted. Just a little bit. To the point his eyes were fluttering before he forced himself awake that little bit longer. M-21 and Muzaka had come back to the house just as the plates were being put on the table, and seeing how M-21 didn't have a shirt on at the time, Tao guessed Muzaka had been able to at least get M-21 to transform.<p>

"You should go to bed," Muzaka said, tilting his head at M-21 aaand Tao predicted the exact seconds of when M-21 squared his shoulders and pursed his lips.

"I'm fine." Which totally meant he wasn't and at this point, Tao would have been dragging M-21 to his bedroom because sometimes you had to give M-21 the option to refuse, to let him decide on his own, and others you had to match M-21's stubbornness or else he would run himself into the ground just to prove he was 'fine'.

Except Muzaka backed off with a nod and hm, Tao could work with Boss to create a booklet on M-21's tells, or maybe he would let Muzaka work it out for himself. M-21 could react differently to Muzaka so saying how M-21 acted around the rest of the household could mean he was shooting himself in the foot.

They finished dinner soon after that, Regis clearing the table. And as Tao thought he would, M-21 went to the living room rather than further into the house to go to his room. Damn.

Muzaka was there first, throwing himself onto the sofa with a sigh, turning on the TV. M-21 sat down next to him, and – yep, barely three seconds and M-21 was already out, his head resting on the back.

Tao's eyebrows rose when Muzaka reached around and tugged M-21 over so his head was on his shoulder instead. The fact M-21 didn't wake up from either the touch or movement said just how tired he was.

And Tao had been so distracted he hadn't noticed the puppy at their feet until Muzaka huffed, saying, "Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time, hold on."

Muzaka kept a hold of M-21 as he reached over and scooped the puppy up, holding him up to his face for a few seconds for the puppy to lick his lips and then set him down on his lap.

"Ah…" Tao said, watching what was happening. The puppy wasn't allowed on the sofa, but the puppy wasn't technically _on_ the sofa and since Tao couldn't feel Boss' aura prickling his skin, Boss had to be okay with it too.

Muzaka raised both his eyebrows in his direction and Tao shook his head. He'll tell Muzaka later. Just so long as the puppy didn't need to go to the toilet it'd be fine, and there had been enough talks with the puppy that he understood to go outside now for that.

The puppy yawned wide and curled up in the gap between M-21 and Muzaka's legs. Huh, were all of them going to sleep?

_Click_.

Tao looked left and it was Boss' master that had his phone up, pointed towards the three on the sofa.

All Muzaka did was twitch his lips in amusement before he started petting the puppy.

When Boss' master turned to leave, Tao followed – M-21 was going to feel embarrassed enough that he'd slept on someone; knowing he'd had an audience would make him feel _worse_.

Everyone else had the same idea and once the living room door was shut, Tao said, "Huh, I hadn't thought Muzaka would do that." Okay, he did have a grasp of what Muzaka was like in the short while he'd been in the house, but Tao hadn't thought Muzaka would have been open enough to pull M-21 over either.

"Ah," Boss said, humming. "Werewolves have a tendency of sleeping in…'puppy piles', if you will. Though, as Lord," Boss continued, "Muzaka wouldn't have been able to do that in case he was attacked during then."

"That doesn't sound like a lot of fun," Tao murmured, frowning. Hm, maybe he should set something up so Muzaka could sleep in piles with people. He'd have to find out who was willing to first.

He grinned. And it was good that everyone was here already. "Sooo, I've got a question for you all."

The looks he got back said most of them already had an idea what he was going to ask. Heh, good. That would make things quicker. 

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><p>This part wanted to end here, so I'll pick it up later. X3<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary**: Tao hasn't seen M-21 and Muzaka in a while.

I was going to carry on from part 7 and write M-21 waking up next to Muzaka but then I started talking with iamprussian, haha.

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><p><strong>Pick Up<br>**

By Dark Ice Dragon

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><p>Tao hadn't seen M-21 and Muzaka in a while. Which wasn't too surprising, not when they'd started leaving together to spar, but he would have heard about that. Someone would have told him.<p>

"Is there something wrong?" Boss asked as Tao checked his phone for the third time in as many minutes. Though if the two _were_ sparring, it would be a miracle if M-21's phone survived or hadn't gotten lost. He really should start making those earring communicators... Far less likely to get broken or dropped.

"Just wondering where M-21 and Muzaka are, that's all." Anyone who dropped out of contact tended to be caught in a fight.

Except Boss glanced out the window.

At the full moon.

"Heh," Tao said, his lips twitching, "they aren't affected by the moon." M-21 had been here long enough to have seen several full moons and M-21 had been his usual self. Boss knew that.

Boss returned his attention to Tao. "Yes, but M-21's now awakened his power."

Tao's eyes widened. "_Oooh_! Right, I didn't think about that." So since both M-21 and Muzaka were awakened, what happened to them during a full moon?

"They have to be downstairs," Boss mused, his gaze going elsewhere, "or else we would have heard them by now."

Ouch. He had to find them quick in case parts of the house had to be renovated again. Tao checked his laptop, hooking up to the house's security system. No. No. Not that one either – th – "Woah."

Boss peered at the image. "As I said, we would have heard them by now."

On the screen was one of Boss' spare lab rooms and it was looking a lot smaller than usual thanks to the _gigantic_ mount of silver fur on one end, a massive silver wolf taking up the entire side, from floor to ceiling even though he was lying down. It wasn't M-21, the right side of his snout facing the camera and empty of a scar.

Aaand where was he? "Found ya!" M-21 was…much smaller to say the least, looking tiny against that bulk but was probably still the size of a 'teenager' wolf – he was too small to be a regular sized wolf and too big to be a puppy. He was all paws - and also backed up into a corner, staying as far from Muzaka as possible, his teeth bared.

Damn.

"Are they instinctual right now?" Tao asked, watching M-21, worried. M-21 had to be, and Tao was confident enough that M-21 would recognise him; Muzaka, not so much.

"Muzaka won't be-" Good to hear. "-but seeing how this is M-21's first time…"

"Right." Made sense.

"He won't know Muzaka that well," Frankenstein added, watching him.

That much was obvious. Tao chuckled and saluted. "Got it, Boss."

Boss smiled. 

xOx

There was only so much time he could keep baring his teeth and growling at the much bigger wolf, but he didn't know him, didn't know his scent and while the other hadn't come closer, the other could be waiting for him lower his guard and –

His ears twitched towards the sound of footsteps coming towards them. He knew the humming that accompanied it. His packmate. Metal-and-static. But if his packmate came here-!

He growled one last time at the other wolf and then dashed towards the door as it hissed open. If he could get to his packmate first-!

"Woah, nonono." Human paws around his stomach and he was lifted into the air until he was pressed against Metal-and-static's shoulder, his nose twitching at the slight prickling it caused. "No running into the house."

He wasn't trying to run away but get his packmate to safety! He whined, struggling but his packmate had him in a secure hold, one hand under his hind legs and the other over his back.

"It's okay, it's okay… Nothing bad is going to happen, see?"

And nothing _was_ happening. He peered over at the other wolf, squinting. Not trying to attack his packmate?

"That's Muzaka – you'll remember him in a bit. Wanna say hi?"

Muzaka…? He knew the name, but other than that, it was unfamiliar to him.

He nodded once, still watching the other.

"Cool." Metal-and-static walked closer, the door shutting behind him. "You not squashed there?"

The other wolf huffed and shook his head. Once they were close enough, the other wolf extended his neck until their noses nearly touched.

And there was something there, the scent that he knew but couldn't quite identify either.

The exchange was over in a few seconds, the other wolf nudging the side of his head with his nose and he growled in response, an ear flicking.

Metal-and-static turned around and leaned back against the other wolf, sliding down until he was sitting.

"Damn," Metal-and-static said with a sigh, letting go of him. "This is better than a bed. Super fluffy and warm. Pretty awesome."

Metal-and-static yelped when they were both covered by the other wolf's tail, huffing laughter easy to hear.

He curled up over Metal-and-static's lap, content to stay now that he knew the other wasn't a danger to himself or his packmate. 

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><p>There was supposed to be howling in this, oops.<p> 


End file.
